Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/category/national/page/14/)
Another year, another showdown over the budget. This time the threat is a trifecta, a showdown over shutting down government, defunding Obamacare, and a default on the Federal Debt by not raising the debt ceiling. The stakes could not possibly be higher – and yet just about no one outside of Washingtoon wants to be in this game in the first place. How did it get to this? Continue Reading
While taking in the Open Streets and Harvest Festival in North Minneapolis’ Lowry Avenuelast weekend, I met an amazing young family that is making a most unusual journey. Gavain U’Prichard, his wife Dana, and their two-year-old daughter, Tillwyn, are walking 1,000 miles on a trek between rural northeast Missouri and Duluth, MN, as witnesses to a global crisis.The U’Prichards had joined forces for the day with the local conservation organization MN350, which was holding an event called Draw the Line to raise public awareness regarding climate change. A prime attraction was the hand-towed wagon they had fashioned from a pony cart and outfitted with a canopy emblazoned with the name of their project: “Pacing the Planet.” Even more unusual than the wagon itself was the manner in which they were propelling it up and down the avenue: on roller skates!The early summer of 2012 had brought the worst drought in anyone’s living memory to northern Missouri, and the garden that was to sustain the U’Prichards family had withered and died. “We needed to do something,” reads their blog. “We wanted to illustrate with our own lives that the occasion calls for putting down our routines, leaving our old ways pristinely and utterly, the way the old city of Pompeii was left frozen in ash, tables still set, business abandoned in mid-stride.”The U’Prichards then created “Pacing the Planet” to inform the public about the cause, consequences, and solutions for the climate crisis and to convey the urgency with which bold and innovative action is needed. They are doing this by engaging in conversation and passing out information sheets to all with whom they come in contact. The substance of their message: destructive weather events are being triggered and worsened by global warming. America must lead in curtailing the use of fossil fuels – those that produce heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions — and replacing them with wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources.Their daily routine involves strapping on knee and elbow pads, wrist guards, and helmets to accommodate conditions at the shoulder of the road. While avoiding hazards like pebbles, car parts, nails, and dead racoons, they have found that skating provides them with both mental and physical diversion as they travel. However, they never skate the wagon with their toddler aboard; only when she is safe at camp with her other parent does the skating begin. Having spent the prior week in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, covering nearly 50 miles while traversing both, they planned to resume their race for Duluth the day after the festival to beat the return of cold weather. I accompanied them on my bike for a short distance toward their camp to help in any way I could, watching anxiously as Dana guided the wagon up and down hills, along highly traveled 4-lane streets, and through treacherous intersections.The U’Prichards are on a truly spiritual journey, having relinquished most of the comforts the rest of us consider essential to our lives — especially those involved in raising a family. I am deeply moved by their will to leave behind the shelter of their Missouri home to help alert the country to the urgency of the climate crisis. Their idealism and dedication to this cause is truly inspirational. Continue Reading
Now that the U.S. House’s farm bill theatrics are over, can Congress actually craft something that helps farmers, rural communities and people in need? And do it before the current bill expires at the end of September?
A Democratic President gets the Republican Party to turn dove-ish on military intervention in the Middle East, but holds back from military action thanks to his ex-KGB Russian counterpart’s diplomatic proposal, which tosses that Democratic President a lifeline in both foreign and domestic affairs. All this, after the two have been at loggerheads for months over issues ranging from trade to an NSA leaker who escaped the US and sought asylum in Moscow. The President’s base reflexively opposes his call for military strikes, the base of the party opposite will flip flop like a dying fish if it means opposing whatever he says is good, but in a single prime-time speech, he managed to (temporarily, at least) convince 61% of listenersof the value of what his stance. Continue Reading
This fall, hungry Minnesotans may be a little bit hungrier. Changes to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps) will reduce benefits for every single recipient, and will completely eliminate them for some. First, a bit of history: these cuts will be reversing SNAP increases made in 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. To provide support during the recession, SNAP benefits were given a modest boost and eligibility was expanded. Those increases came with expiration dates, though, and those dates are drawing near. Continue Reading
Law matters. But the law is the not sum total of what matters when it comes to asking the question “What is the right thing to do?,” be that in our personal or professional lives. Often obedience to the law–asking if doing something is legal–is the starting point for evaluating conduct. But there is a long lineage of people from St. Augustine, Henry David Thoreau, to Martin Luther King, Jr. Who would point out that unjust laws are not morally binding and that in some cases disobeying them is the right thing to do. Conversely, mere conformity to the letter of the law also does not necessarily mean one is acting ethically or that following the rule is the right thing to do. More is required. This is also true when it come to the decision by President Obama to take military action against Syria. Continue Reading
First District Congressman Tim Walz (DFL-Mankato) has come out against a proposal for American military action in Syria, according to a statement issued by his office. Continue Reading
MPR recently ran a story explaining some of the reasons behind the error rates in Minnesota’s SNAP payments, formally known as food stamps. The federal government says Minnesota made about $38 million in 2012 payment errors, comprising about 5 percent of SNAP’s $750 million in total benefits. On its face, this number, and the corresponding rank as “one of the worst in the nation” feeds right into the idea of benefit cheaters that has helped put the entire SNAP program in jeopardy. Continue Reading
Immigrants are important to Minnesota. Rural or urban, north or south, first ring suburbs or newest exurb, immigrants are an essential part of Minnesota’s economic and cultural fabric. A recent study, Economic Benefits of Immigration Reform in Minnesota, from the Center for American Progress and the American Federation of State County and Municipal workers examines the economic impact of the national immigration reform act in Minnesota. $4.8 billion is nothing to sneeze at.
The U.S. House is poised to vote next month on a proposal that would drastically cut basic food assistance to thousands of Minnesotans – including children, parents, seniors, people with disabilities and veterans. Continue Reading